When the Obama administration announced in December that
it would draw down the number of National Guard units that patrol the
southern border, critics said the decision would leave Texas vulnerable
to spillover violence from Mexico.

The administration, which last
month reduced the number of guard troops on the border from 1,200 to
about 300, defended the move as a step toward better efficiency. The
mission of the guardsmen was shifted from ground surveillance and
assisting the U.S. Border Patrol to primarily aerial surveillance
efforts.

But as the debate on how to best secure the border with
Mexico continues, a new government report says that the use of National
Guard troops on the border can hinder recruitment efforts and pose a
challenge to long-term border security planning.

The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office,
the investigative arm of Congress, also says that the presence of
active duty guards on the border may lead to the perception that the
border is militarized, which could hinder binational agreements between
the U.S. and Mexico aimed at fighting organized crime on the border.

Officials
also cited benefits associated with the effort, including filling in
personnel gaps until potential Border Patrol agents were trained and
deployed, and providing necessary training for military personnel in an
environment similar to those they would see in combat and helping to
build relationships with other law enforcement agencies.

In a written statement to the U.S House Homeland
Security subcommittee on border and maritime security, however, Brian J.
Lepore, the GAO's director of defense capabilities and management
issues, argued that recruitment could be affected because potential
recruits may be against using out-of-state guardsmen on an "involuntary
status" for long-term missions, citing National Guard officials.

Lepore also noted that Customs and Border Protection officials who work with National Guard units say their temporary status makes long-term border security planning challenging.

"These
impacts are due to difficulties of incorporating the National Guard
into a strategic border security plan, given the variety and number of
missions that the National Guard is responsible for, including disaster
assistance," Lepore wrote.

Lawmakers who support the drawdown
argue that the shift makes sense because of these limitations and
because the U.S. Border Patrol is better staffed now than it has ever
been. In fiscal year 2011, there were more than 21,400 U.S. Border
Patrol agents on the nation's borders, including about 18,500 on the Southwest border. Federal regulations also prevent National Guard troops from making arrests, which limits their effectiveness.

"This is why I think that aerial support makes sense," said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, the subcommittee's ranking member. "Instead of having 1,200 [soldiers] on the ground, you have 300 flying planes."

Cuellar
said there are at least 12 National Guard helicopters currently
operating in Texas, in addition to several more fixed-wing aircraft.
Major Gen. John F. Nichols told the committee that since the aerial
operations commenced in March, the Texas portion of the mission, known
as Operation River Watch II, has resulted in assisting Customs and
Border Protection in the apprehension of 1,144 illegal immigrants, the
prevention of 25 human smuggling cases and the seizure of more than two
tons of marijuana.

The scope of the operation covers more than 200
miles of border from Laredo to the Gulf Coast. During the National
Guard's operations before the drawdown, it was credited with assisting
in the apprehension of about 17,900 illegal immigrants and the seizure
of about 56,300 pounds of marijuana on the southwest border from July
2010 to June 2011.

Cuellar and Texas National Guard officials are
also looking into constructing a Joint Interagency Training Center in
South Texas. Cuellar said he and others envisioned the
multimillion-dollar project as a center where state, local and federal
agencies could train recruits and veteran agents, specifically from the
Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and Corpus Christi, without having to send
them out of the state.

Lt. Col. Amy Cook, the public information
officer for the Texas National Guard, said officials began discussing
the project this week and that it is still in the discussion phase. A
land deal in southwest Texas that would have procured the necessary
terrain for the effort fell through, she said, and stakeholders are
still debating where to look to break ground.

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